Communication device and method for displaying message information when receiving a call

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of displaying message information associated with a message when receiving a call at a device comprising: receiving the call at the device from a caller; receiving caller information at the device in association with the call; automatically retrieving from storage, in response to receiving the caller information, at least one message, the at least one message comprising text content; and automatically displaying on a display screen message information associated with the at least one message.

1 . A method of displaying message information associated with a message when receiving a call at a device comprising:
 receiving the call at the device from a caller;   receiving caller information at the device in association with the call;   automatically retrieving from storage, in response to receiving the caller information, at least one message, the at least one message comprising text content; and   automatically displaying on a display screen message information associated with the at least one message.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the at least one message comprises an urgent message received from the caller. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the message information comprises content of the at least one message. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the at least one message comprises at least one of a most recently received message from the caller and a message that arrived within a specific time period before the call is received at the device. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the at least one message comprises a plurality of messages and the message information comprises header information of each message. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the at least one message is one of an email message, SMS message or IM message. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the caller information is used to retrieve the at least one message. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the caller information comprises at least one of is an email address, IM address and phone number 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the message is received after the call is received. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising receiving a new message from the caller during the call and replacing the displayed message information associated with at least one message received from the caller with displayed message information associated with the new message received from the caller. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the caller information is displayed on the display screen along with the message information. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising retrieving contact information for the caller from storage and displaying the contact information along with the message information. 
     
     
         13 . A communications device having a processor and memory, the memory storing instructions and data for execution by the processor to configure the device to display message information associated with a message when receiving a call by configuring the device to:
 receive the call at the device from a caller;   receive caller information at the device in association with the call;   automatically retrieve from storage, in response to receiving the caller information, at least one message, the at least one message comprising text content; and   automatically display on a display screen message information associated with the at least one message.   
     
     
         14 . The communications device of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one message comprises an urgent message received from the caller. 
     
     
         15 . The communications device of  claim 13  wherein the message information comprises text content of the at least one message. 
     
     
         16 . The communications device of  claim 13  wherein the at least one message comprises at least one of a most recently received message from the caller and a message that arrived within a specific time period before the call is received at the device. 
     
     
         17 . The communications device of  claim 13  wherein the at least one message comprises a plurality of messages and the message information comprises header information of each message. 
     
     
         18 . The communications device of  claim 13  wherein the at least one message is one of an email message, SMS message or IM message. 
     
     
         19 . The communications device of  claim 13  wherein the caller information is used to retrieve the at least one message. 
     
     
         20 . The communications device of  claim 19  wherein the caller information comprises at least one of is an email address, IM address and phone number 
     
     
         21 . The communications device of  claim 13  wherein the message is received after the call is received. 
     
     
         22 . The communications device of  claim 13  wherein the device is further configured to receive a new message from the caller during the call and replace the displayed message information associated with at least one message received from the caller with displayed message information associated with the new message received from the caller. 
     
     
         23 . The communications device of  claim 13  wherein the caller information is displayed on the display screen along with the message information. 
     
     
         24 . The communications device of  claim 13  wherein the device is further configured to retrieve contact information for the caller from storage and display the contact information along with the message information. 
     
     
         25 . A computer readable medium having recorded thereon statements and instructions for execution by a computer to carry out a method of displaying message information associated with a message when receiving a call at a device, the method comprising:
 receiving the call at the device from a caller;   receiving caller information at the device in association with the call;   automatically retrieving from storage, in response to receiving the caller information, at least one message, the at least one message comprising text content; and   automatically displaying on a display screen message information associated with the at least one message.